The present invention relates generally to large parking facilities such as those found at airports, shopping centers, and densely populated downtown areas. Because of the large number of parking spaces in such facilities, it is not unusual for users of such facilities to have difficulty finding the best available parking space. Difficulty in finding an available space results in waste of time and fuel, and contributes to air pollution in the area near the parking facility. Searching for an available parking space in a crowded self-service garage can be a very frustrating experience for the driver, and the present invention is an effort to eliminate those experiences.
Efforts have been made by others to provide guidance systems for users of large parking facilities. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,644,150 shows a system in which sensors are installed at entrance and exit locations, and those sensors count incoming and outgoing vehicles. The counted number of vehicles provides space availability information with respect to each level or section for which there is an entry or exit sensor. The display of information is in a digital form. Other, more recent, efforts include those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,004,997 (Shisgal et al.); 5,432,508 (Jackson); and 5,504,314 (Farmont). These patents show various techniques for sensing the availability of parking space and displaying information relating thereto. However, it is believed that these systems are lacking in either their reliability, their completeness, or their affordability. The evidence of this is the absence of parking guidance systems from most large parking facilities in existence today.
The present invention has advantages both for the users of the facility and for the managers or owners of parking facilities. For users, the present invention includes graphical displays at various locations in the facility to quickly and thoroughly inform the user regarding the location of available parking spaces, so that the user can locate an advantageous and convenient parking spot without wasting time and fuel. For owners or operators of parking facilities, the present invention provides the advantage of advertising, which can generate revenues to offset the cost of installation and operation of the system. In addition, the system of the present invention provides statistical information to the owner/operator regarding space utilization and can assist the operator in identifying abandoned vehicles which have been parked too long at a single location. The system of the present invention further includes a sensing arrangement for detecting the availability of parking spaces which is believed to provide greater reliability as compared to sensing arrangements in the prior art.